fitness

Fitness bands and smartwatches that can be used for tracking movement are placed on our wrists because, well, that's the most convenient, inconspicuous, and comfortable location for a more or less general purpose wearable. That doesn't mean, however, that it's the most effective spot. Or at least that's the idea that Lumo is trying to sell with its Rum smart shorts. Yes, shorts that have sensors much closer to where the action is, that is, your core, hips, and legs, to give you a more accurate readout of your running performance.

I probably shouldn't have been surprised to find a Microsoft Band fan at the company's big Windows 10 device launch, but the wearable has kept a low profile over the past twelve months. Launched to no small fanfare last October, the chunky fitness wearable proved polarizing: lovers praised its fitness routine tutorials and Cortana integration, while haters slammed its prototype-like looks and patchy biometric sensors.

Microsoft has taken Microsoft Band back into the lab and cooked up its successor, and it finally feels ready for the mainstream. Gone is the clunky, near-prototype styling, replaced with a smooth, flexible circular band, topped with a curved touchscreen protected with rounded Gorilla Glass 3. Meanwhile, the sensors and software have improved, too.

This week Jawbone has teamed with Runtastic to provide content from one with the other. Fitness activities tracked with the Runtastic app will now sync with the app "UP by Jawbone." So 'ay dog, I heard you like fitness tracking, so we put fitness tracking data from one fitness tracking app in your other fitness tracking app. All fitness activities tracked with the Runtastic app will be available in the UP by Jawbone app, which can then share said information seamlessly.

Fitbit my be the darling of the fitness wearable market, but it has seen increased competition, and sometimes even lawsuits, in a once niche industry. To stay on top of its rivals, it needs to continuously update its existing devices with new features, without requiring users to buy a new one. Almost a year old now, the Fitbit Surge is getting another major update, the last one rolled out last March, which not only adds a new mode to the smartwatch but also improves its longevity.

Plenty of wearables these days have settings for tracking different sport activities, but what if you just want to shoot some hoops and not have to deal with a wristband and configuring options? That's where Wilson Sporting Goods steps in. The company has unveiled its Wilson X Connected Basketball, which has a sensor inside that can detect and track when you make your shots. The ball looks and feels almost exactly like a "dumb" basketball, and it pairs with an iOS app (Android is in the works) for stat tracking.

Apple has over 10,000 apps for Apple Watch, the company announced today, previewing some of the upcoming software that will arrive with the wearable's WatchOS 2. The milestone figure comes, impressively, before Apple Watch even supports native software, something which Apple promises will make apps load faster, perform more swiftly, and be more flexible.

Runtastic, the makers of the fitness app of the same name that was just acquired by Adidas, has just launched an analog fitness tracking watch called Moment. Aimed at competing with the likes of Withings' Activite, the Runtastic Moment tracks just about all the activities you'd expect, including steps, distance, calories burned, minutes of activity, and sleep cycles, all while maintaining the form of a traditional, simple analog watch. It may not be a smartwatch, but it's definitely a watch with smarts.

I confess, I was a little suspicious when Samsung invited me to take a nap at its IFA booth. Turns out though, it wasn't a strange casting couch experience they had in mind, but a quick test of the new Samsung SLEEPsense, a contactless sleep tracker that, rather than clamping to your wrist, slips under your mattress to monitor you wirelessly.

TomTom has just announced the latest models of its Spark smartwatch. Along with the GPS and fitness tracking abilities, the new wearables can now store music and stream it to a pair of Bluetooth headphones. There are three versions available: the standard Spark GPS Fitness Watch, the Spark Music GPS Fitness Watch, and the top of the line Spark Cardio + Music GPS Fitness Watch. The music capable models feature 3GB of storage, and the cardio version includes an integrated heart rate monitor.

It's kinda telling when a "second gen" product ships before its predecessor. Technically speaking, the Razer Nabu X is a sort of a different wearable, but still, the display-toting Razer Nabu was announced a full year before it. This week at PAX Prime 2015, Razer has finally announced something that was more than a year in the making. The Razer Nabu is finally available for pre-order, for real, starting September 15 and will start shipping, for real, in October. Hopefully with no more unexpected delays.

Sony has introduced its new SmartBand 2 wearable. This wristband is designed to track fitness and activity metrics while also feeding the most pertinent data from the paired smartphone. The newest SmartBand is able to offer up email and social notifications from a paired smartphone, call info, “visual feedback” delivered via colored LEDs, and more. Says Sony, the SmartBand 2 also features an “advanced heart rate sensor”, and offers up insights on things like the wearer’s stress level and sleep patterns.